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Resources for Your Consideration

Safe & Supportive Environment For AllBodymind & Voice: Foundations of Voice Education(Book One), "Human-compatible Learning," by Leon Thurman, Thurman and Welch, co-editors, VoiceCare Network, 2000 Leon Thurman's spectacular and comprehensive ninety-eight page chapter lays it all out there in very fine detail. If you want more background on the science behind humanistic and non-punitive leadership, look no further. If you want practical ideas on how to teach, while honoring each student's humanity to the fullest, you'll find them here, too. The rest of the book (as well as the series) is also outstanding.Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community, Alfie Kohn, ASCD Books, 2006You will never look at punishments and rewards the same way again. Kohn does a magnificent job of explaining just how and why such methods are dehumanizing and ineffective. Brilliant.It's Being Done: Academic Success in Unexpected Schools, Karin Chenoweth, Harvard Education Press, 2007For an illuminating look inside many challenging but still effective schools across the country, read Chenoweth's book. Done in a series of case studies, the conclusions about what works and what doesn't validate everything that the authors above believe."Effective Teaching: Inner City Is Not an Excuse,” Harry and Rosemary WongThis outstanding article lays to rest the notion that students of a certain demographic are just not teachable. When teachers lead with high expectations and mutual respect, even poor kids from the inner cities can succeed.Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America, Paul Tough, Houghton Mifflin, 2008Great documentary journalism here, in which Paul Tough documents everything that social activist/educator Geoffrey Canada is doing to bring success to a substantial group of Harlem residents. Canada's initial plan was to create a 97 square block area in which every resident would have the option of receiving optimum care – from prenatal care, to parenting, to education. Canada comes up with some striking and pivotal conclusions about what many inner city kids need in order to succeed ... and how the people in their lives can meet those needs.Movement & Musical Expression Expressive Singing: Dalcroze Eurythmics for Voice, J. Timothy Caldwell, Prentice Hall, 1995For many more movement ideas, as well as exercises which help singers at all levels be more connected to line and phrasing (musicality in general), check out Tim's important book.

The Collaborative Choral Rehearsal: Inspiring Creative Musicianship, Leslie Guelker-Cone & the Western Washington University Concert Choir, Santa Barbara Music Publishing, 2010A fabulous DVD which presents many great ideas for enhancing musicianship through ensemble movement activities (many of them Dalcroze or Dalcroze-inspired).

The Choral Director's Guide to Sanity... and Success: How to Develop a Flourishing Middle School/Junior High School Choral Program, Randy Pagel with Linda Spevacek, Heritage Music Press (Lorenz), 2004A comprehensive guide to the subject matter, written with clarity and an abiding sense of kindness. If you work with middle school kids and are pulling your hair out, look at some of Randy and Linda's ideas.

Acting & Performance Theory An Actor Prepares, Constantin Stanislavski, Routledge, 1948For firsthand insight into the Method acting techniques found in Choral CHARISMA, go to the source. This is the masterwork by the visionary Russian teacher, director, and author. If you read it, you may be surprised to find that Method acting was originally quite logical and straightforward ... before some legendary American teachers, directors, and actors put their own spin on it.

The Craftsmen of Dionysus: An Approach to Acting, Jerome Rockwood, Scott/Foresman, 1966A classic reworking and honing of Stanislavski.

Acting is Believing: A Basic Method, Charles McGaw & Larry D. Clark, CBS Publishing Company, 1987Another great college text which builds on Stanislavski's work.www.owningthestage.com, Tom Metzger, self-publishedTom, a coach and member of the 2005 world champion barbershop quartet called Realtime, has created a terrific blogsite and forum having to do with all elements of performing. Lots of great points, research, articles, and discussionsNeuroscience & Human CommunicationEmotions Revealed: Recognizing Faces and Feelings to Improve Communication and Emotional Life, Paul Ekman, Times Books, 2003In this comprehensive review of human emotional life, one of the pioneers of the neuroscience of facial expression and human emotion shares his findings. For a closer view, see his subsequent book:

Face to Face: The Science of Reading Faces,Paul Ekman, Times Books, 2004

"Mirror Neurons,"Science Now/Nova/PBS, 2010/CurrentUp to date description of mirror neurons – what they are, how they work, and how their function affects our thoughts and associated feelings.

Empathic Accuracy, William Ickes, The Guilford Press, 1997"A compendium of state-of-the-art research on one of the most important and interesting topics at the interface of social and personality psychology – when and how do we know what another person is thinking and feeling?"~David FunderMind Wide Open: Your Brain and the Neuroscience of Everyday Life, Steve Johnson, Scribner, 2004Johnson shares the latest neuroscientific discoveries, including how we "read" other people.

This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession, Daniel Levitin, Dutton/Penguin, 2006In this hugely popular book, Levitin discusses many musical elements and our responses to them. Along with things like rhythm, pitch, and harmony, he also discusses the pscyobiochemistry of listening, emotion, and expectation.